A Collection of Unmitigated Pedantry
A look at history and popular culture
Fireside this week! Originally, I was thinking I'd talk about the 'future of classics' question in this space, but I think that deserves a full post (in connection with this week's book recommendation and the next fireside's book recommendation), so instead this week I want to talk a little about foreign policy realism, what it … Continue reading Fireside Friday, June 27, 2025 (On the Limits of Realism)
This week we're going to take a look at an aspect of contemporary international relations, rather than ancient ones. As has become somewhat customary, I am going to use the the week of July 4th to talk about the United States, or more correctly for this July 4th, the informal coalition (with formal components) of … Continue reading Collections: The Status Quo Coalition
This is the second part in a series (I, II, III, IV) that examines the historical assumptions behind Paradox Interactive's grand strategy computer game set in the early modern period, Europa Universalis IV (EU4). Last time, we took a look at how EU4 was a game fundamentally about states and how the decision to orient … Continue reading Collections: Teaching Paradox, Europa Universalis IV, Part II: Red Queens
Hey folks! Fireside this week. Next week, we're going to start a two-part 'Trip Through' looking at medieval martial poetry, first by the 12th century Occitan troubadour Bertran de Born, and then by the sixth century Arab warrior-poet Antarah Ibn Shaddad. The sword is a modern replica I've had for a number of years. I … Continue reading Fireside Friday: April 3, 2020
Welcome to the first of a new set of a posts, which I'm calling A Trip Through the Classics. This won't be a series so much as a new format we'll have sometimes (like the kit reviews). For each trip through, I'm going to pull a key passage from a historical author - mostly ancient … Continue reading Collections: A Trip Through Thucydides (Fear, Honor and Interest)